Miami doubling down on rapid transit

January 23, 2018

Autonomous vehicles replacing fixed transit may be on the minds of many in the transportation world but that's not stopping cities from upgrading and building around their transit lines. Here's a brief look at Miami-Dade County's new sleek Metrorail trains.

Miami-Dade County's new railcars are being manufactured by Hitachi Rail's first United States manufacturing facility in Medley, Florida. Completed in 2016, the 140,400 square-foot plant employs 100 and is in the process of manufacturing 136 cars and 272 motor bogies needed to replace the County's Metrorail fleet. The new rail cars are being funded by $313 million raised through a local 1/2 cent transit tax passed in 2002. Established in 1984 and initially regarded as a boondoggle, the 24.4 mile system is Florida's only rapid transit metro system carrying nearly 80,000 riders a day. Metrorail operates from 5:00 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

This video captures Southbound train 308-307-306-305 in testing service through Government Center with a brief pause on the platform simulating a station stop, before continuing onward.